The new 5 MV accelerator to be installed at the Nuclear Science Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame represents a major equipment upgrade. The accelerator will provide high intensity heavy ion beams for experiments with the St. George recoil separator, but it will also increase the intensities for proton and alpha beams. The accelerator will be built by NEC (National Electrostatic Corporation) and will be delivered by December 2011. In addition to purchasing the accelerator, a new building to house the vertical machine must be constructed. The spatially intricate area of the laboratory requires careful planning. A 3D view of the
implementation of the new building inside the Nieuwland Science Hall building is shown in the figure below, it is provided by BSA Life Structures, the engineering company in charge of designing the new building as well as supervising its construction. A short animation is also provided.

Recently NEC and BSA Life Structures met with the members of the laboratory. The development of the two main parts of this project (i.e. building and accelerator) must be highly synchronized. That meeting demonstrated the desire of all to quickly move forward while allowing the NSL scientists to maximize their experimental time in a with minimal disturbance to the laboratory.

The project is funded through the NSF MRI program with additional Notre Dame funding for the new accelerator building.

Drawing of the proposed installation of the new accelerator in the existing
facilities of the NSL.
In blue the existing laboratory installation, in dark green the JN accelerator,
in purple, the
structure of the new building. In red the new accelerator, its infrastructure
and new beam line.(Click on the image for larger one.)